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Sunday, December 04, 2011

NBC FNIA Pregame Notes - Week 13

“What he did today was make these on-target throws from the pocket.” – Tony Dungy on Tim Tebow

“It is about his actions moving forward.” – Rodney Harrison on the Ndamukong Suh

“Andy
Reid will keep his job if he will admit that hiring Juan Castillo to be
the defensive coordinator was a mistake.” – Mike Florio

Bob Costas’ halftime essay on Houston Texans

NEW YORK – December 4, 2011 – Following are highlights from Football Night in America. Bob Costas hosted the show live from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La., and was joined on site for commentary by Sunday Night Football
commentators Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. Co-host Dan Patrick and
commentators Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Peter King and Mike Florio
covered the news of the NFL’s 13th week live from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30
Rockefeller Plaza studios in New York. Alex Flanagan reported from
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on the Packers-Giants game. At
halftime, Costas focused his essay on the Houston Texans.

EMBED NBC SPORTS VIDEO: Highlights from Football Night and other NBC Sports programming are available to be embedded at NBCSports.com. Click the following links for:

Flanagan:
“I talked to Mark Murphy, Packers President (and CEO), a little before
this game and asked him when this talk (of an undefeated season) does
start, if you win this game, how do you guys handle it? He said, with
humility. This team is humble, especially his leader Aaron Rodgers. And
that is how they will handle it, by being humble in the locker room and
focusing on the next game at hand.”

Harrison on undefeated season:
“Well, it’s very difficult. It’s not just being humble, but you have to
have, not just Aaron Rodgers playing at a high level, you have to have
everyone playing at a high level. So, yes, you have to stay humble, but
you have to make big plays.”

Dungy:
“I like their chances in these last four games, especially the way
Aaron Rodgers is playing. He is playing at a different level.”

Patrick on Aaron Rodgers: “Is he playing at a higher level than (Tom) Brady and (Peyton) Manning did (during their best years)?”

Dungy: “I think he is.”

Harrison: “I agree right now.”

ON TEXANS

Michaels: “How about the Texans…Wade Phillips’ defense does a magnificent job and right now they are 9-3.”

Collinsworth:
“It’s unbelievable how this thing begins to happen because we are
talking about key injuries with the Houston Texans. They are overcoming
them.”

Dungy: “This is what the
Houston defense has been doing, coming up with the takeaways. They
needed this win because Tennessee is quietly playing a little bit
better, and they are getting Chris Johnson going.”

Dungy:
“Tim Tebow and those Denver Broncos. I know Rodney doesn’t believe and
you (Dan Patrick) are kind of on the fence, but Tebow is going to make
you guys believe. They are going to the playoffs.”

Harrison: “I’m still not a huge believer in the Broncos.”

Patrick on Tim Tebow: “Well, if I would have told you that Tebow would rush four times for 13 yards, what would you think the end result would be?”

Dungy:
“I would have thought that Minnesota would have been an easy victory.
If they could take Tebow’s running game away, he thought they could
handle them and that’s what they tried to do, but he beat them today
with play-action passes. He beat them with deep throws….What he did
today was make these on-target throws from the pocket. Minnesota had
some new safeties playing with injuries and he took advantage of it.”

Harrison (during halftime of SNF):
“He (Tebow) is getting a lot of credit, but this is really a total team
effort; defense is playing well, special teams, and Willis McGahee
looks like he is 25 years old. With most young quarterbacks, they throw
interceptions. Tebow has only thrown one in seven games.”

ON BEARS

Dungy on if Bears will make playoffs:
“I’m not sure they can now. Matt Forte was their MVP and losing (Jay)
Cutler hurt, but without Forte it was all on the passing game. They were
not able to protect Caleb Hanie today. The one thing you’ve got to do
as a backup quarterback is protect the ball. This is two games in a row
now Hanie has thrown three interceptions and the Bears are going to have
a tough time, if he doesn’t start playing a little bit better.”

ON LIONS

Dungy on Ndamukong Suh:
“As a coaching staff, that is where you come in. You have a great
player with tremendous talent, but you have to help him overcome this.
He has to stay on the field, and you have to tell him, ‘You are a leader
for us. We need you. Your teammates need you. You can’t be missing
games. You can’t be getting penalties.’”

Patrick: “But is this message being said by the coaching staff?”

Dungy:
“I’m not sure because, as Bob (Costas) said, there are a lot of numbers
there, a lot of personal fouls, a lot of penalties. He has to get the
message. Hopefully, this (suspension) helps.”

Harrison:
“It is fine for you to come out as a coach and say something, but I
think it is more about him exercising self-control. I was in that
similar situation when I got suspended and I really didn’t understand
the magnitude of what I had done until I was sitting home, watching
football from the sidelines. I think moving forward; it is not what he
says because he can come out and say whatever. It is about his actions
moving forward.”

Patrick:
“And, as you said, you can take money out of my wallet, but when I have
to sit and watch my teammates, that is when it hurts a little bit
more.”

ON FALCONS

Patrick on Matt Ryan: “What’s wrong with him?”

Harrison: “He is forcing the ball down the field and he is making bad decisions.”

ON COWBOYS

Harrison:
“Veteran cornerback Terence Newman gave up a couple big plays; holding,
a lot of missed tackles in the open field, lack of effort, bad angles.
You have to be able to make these plays if you expect to win the
football game.”

Dungy (during halftime of SNF):
“The problem I have with the whole thing is they threw a pass to Dez
Bryant, they had 26 seconds left and two timeouts. Take your timeout
then. Get the ball closer. They basically let the clock run down, settle
for a 49-yard field goal. Now contrast that with Green Bay, who was in
the same situation, they let Aaron Rodgers be aggressive. He hit Greg
Jennings, set it up for a short field goal. That’s why Green Bay is
12-0.”

ON BENGALS

Patrick:
“I think when we started the season; we didn’t think the Bengals would
be this good. So I don’t think Bengals fans can be that disappointed.
They have another couple steps to get up to the Ravens and the
Steelers.”

Dungy: “They do, but they have some young players who are going to get there eventually.”

Harrison on if team can make playoffs: “They are going to have to grow up in a hurry because they have a tough schedule.”

ON EAGLES

Florio:
“Michael Vick will be back and he will want Andy Reid to be back. I am
told Andy Reid will keep his job if he will admit that hiring Juan
Castillo to be the defensive coordinator was a mistake, and move on from
Castillo. If he doesn’t, Reid will be fired.”

ON COLTS

Dungy on Peyton Manning once the season ends:
“I think Peyton Manning will be at that facility throwing, working out
every day. If he is healthy enough to play, he will play for the Colts.
If he’s not healthy enough to play, he’ll sit out.”

ON RAIDERS

Harrison: “Undisciplined play, mistakes, they kind of looked like the old Raiders.”

Dungy on Richard Seymour’s ejection: “It should be a penalty, but not an ejection.”

Harrison on Richard Seymour: “I don’t think he should have been ejected with this, but a 15 yard penalty would have sufficed.”

Dungy on Raiders leading NFL penalties: “At some point they have to stop blaming the officials. They have to take care of it.”

Dungy:
“Well, because they got back to their identity. Shonn Greene running
the ball and that’s allowing them to rush the passer in the fourth
quarter to get ahead, as Rex Ryan said. And Aaron Maybin has played some
lights-out football for them. They got him as a pick up and he has been
sensational. They pressured Rex Grossman all day today.”

ON RAVENS

Dungy on Ray Rice:
“You think of the Baltimore Ravens and all their defensive stars, we
think of (Haloti) Ngata and Ray Lewis and those guys, but Ray Rice sets
the tone for this team. When he is rolling like this, he makes them
awfully tough to defend…you have to love this guy.”

Harrison: “But the thing that I’m most proud of is that they didn’t play down to their competition.”

Following are highlights from Costas’ interview with Stafford and Johnson:

MATTHEW STAFFORD & CALVIN JOHNSON WITH BOB COSTAS

COSTAS to Stafford: Sometimes I get the sense that you do the equivalent of what kids do in the sandlot. ‘Calvin, go long.’

STAFFORD:
Absolutely, especially when we get closer to the end zone, and get down
there where he’s got a really big advantage as far as height and
jumping ability. There are definitely some plays where I’m just trying
to give him a chance and let him go up and make a play.

COSTAS to Johnson: Is that the idea?

JOHNSON: That’s definitely the idea. I love that coach gives him the freedom to do that.

COSTAS:
Did you know that the first time you two ever connected it was the
first time that a former Georgia quarterback connected with a former
Georgia Tech receiver in the NFL?

STAFFORD:
I did not know that. I guess we’re alone with the record on that one.
Hopefully we’ll keep building on it. Absolutely, that’s the plan.

COSTAS:
You played against each other one time, in 2006, as collegians…
(Stafford) led a late drive and they won the game, 15-12. (To Johnson)
You weren’t too fond of him that day?

JOHNSON: Couldn’t stand him that day. But over time, we’ve grown closer together.

COSTAS
on Ndamukong Suh: Clearly this is one of the best players in the
league. Just as clearly are moments where he’s lost control and it’s
hurt not only him, but it’s hurt the team. What have you and other
teammates said to him to get him to harness it a little bit?

JOHNSON:
Really the only thing you can say is you’ve just got to be smart. Coach
said it earlier in the week. We can’t do things; not just hurt
yourself, but hurts the team.

COSTAS to Stafford: Have you spoken with him?

STAFFORD:
I haven’t really. He’s a smart kid and he understands what he did. It
was a tough situation obviously to be on national TV and everyone to say
whatever they want about it, but he’s going to learn from it. He’s
going to move on.

COSTAS: I don’t
know him, but from everything you can see he’s a very intelligent young
guy, but there’s something that kind of snaps at the wrong time. Do you
think he’s gotten the message this time?

JOHNSON: I haven’t really talked to him myself, but I don’t see why not.

COSTAS on Lions playing in high-profile games: All of a sudden, the limelight is bigger, right?

STAFFORD:
I think so. It’s something we embrace. We play this game to be able to
be on TV. You play this game to compete and to win, and when you win you
get opportunities to play on Sunday Night Football. Our fans appreciate the effort and the product we’re putting out.

JOHNSON:
I can’t answer any better than he did. It’s definitely for the fans.
It’s great to be at home and someone walks up to you on the street, even
after a loss, comes up to you and says, ‘Hey, we’re pulling for you.’
Just to hear that feels great.

BOB COSTAS’ HALFTIME ESSAY ON HOUSTON TEXANS

Back in New Orleans, where with the Detroit Lions' appearance tonight, 31 of the 32 NFL teams have appeared on NBC's Sunday Night Football. The
one that hasn't: the Houston Texans, a team, which, in its brief
existence, had an aggregate record of 55-89 entering this season. The
Texans have never been to the playoffs, but after their 17-10 win over
Atlanta today, they’re 9-3, tied with perennial contenders New England,
Baltimore and Pittsburgh for the AFC's best record.

With
Peyton Manning out, the AFC South was wide open this year, and the
Texans have seized their chance, despite a continuing series of bad
breaks. They've now won six in a row, the last two with a third-string
quarterback. Matt Schaub goes down, backup Matt Leinart quickly follows
him to the sideline, and the Texans keep winning with T.J. Yates at
quarterback.

Yates, a rookie from
North Carolina, was a fifth round draft-choice, and he is, believe it or
not, the first Tar Heel quarterback ever to start an NFL game, the
university having produced a few more basketball than football
standouts. And beyond quarterback, the Texans have gone stretches
without the services of three of their best players at other positions;
linebacker Mario Williams was lost for the season several weeks ago, and
running back Arian Foster and receiver Andre Johnson have each missed
time with injuries.

And yet, here they
are, with Cincinnati, Carolina, and Indy coming up on the schedule
before the regular season concludes with a matchup against their closest
division rival, Tennessee. It's not too far-fetched to see Houston
winning three of those four games, and, what the heck, maybe all of
them. And in the process then, perhaps setting themselves up for a
playoff run, and almost certainly a spot next year on Sunday Night Football.